The differences in academic performance among children from different social class and ethnic backgrounds are unacceptably large, and they are not diminishing rapidly enough. In Kashmir, there has been a major thrust in the last two decades on improving elementary education. However, the two times meal and other their basic problems of low class families often leads to their children dropping out of the school system without learning. Besides, there are other educational inequalities like low speed Internet, urban or rural habitation, and social and economic strata, and these are visible in school enrolment. Research shows that poverty affects cognitive development of children more than factors such as parents’ education or parents’ cognitive abilities. From last three years students are home boun, and the online classes on phone are just a distaste when it comes to attending a LIVE session through it. Even, the frequent Internet shutdowns makes things worse. One of the prevailing popular explanations for such inequality was poverty in 60’s to 90’s. This came to be known as the ‘deficit’ approach to educational achievement. Anthropologists quickly countered that it was not a matter of cultural deprivation, but rather of bias. These differences underlie many of the most polarizing issues in our valley. Their consequences are getting progressively worse, as the income gap between well-educated and poor is increasing.
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We cannot have a just or peaceful society if major segments of it see little hope for their children. Dear reader, imagine the plight of students who belong to poor families. The students whose parents are educated end up getting all lessons at home and as a consequence have a better chance of doing well at future competitive examinations. They have a power to make all their concepts clear at home. However, the question is, why would the government not provide an equal opportunity to the children of carpenters, masons and other professions who want to be doctors, engineers? The least that the government can do is to provide smartphones to such students, because, we cannot let this inequality rule the roost? we must respect that equality above all compulsions.
